


Collection of Faba one-shots

by DeQuidt



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Main Video Game Series), Pocket Monsters: Sun & Moon | Pokemon Sun & Moon Versions
Genre: Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-07
Updated: 2017-02-14
Packaged: 2018-09-15 13:35:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 13,523
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9237356
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DeQuidt/pseuds/DeQuidt
Summary: A collection of Faba one-shots I've written for the anons on Tumblr.This work contains everything from AU's to short stories set in canon.I will add a chapter whenever I write something[branch-chief--faba.tumblr.com]





	1. Memory

[Faba remembers his child]

 

The room was quiet except for the soft beeping and whirring of the machines attached to him. 

There were no visitors at this time. A vase filled with flowers was put on the table in his room. The leaves withering away like he was. He was old and he knew his time was almost up. That is what they don’t tell you about death. You can feel it coming. 

Faba knew that it would come for him any moment now. His breathing was heavy and slow and he couldn’t keep his eyes open. He had tried a few times but it seemed impossible. 

He had a few visitors today. His child and the child’s mother.

He remembered how upset he was that she had told him she was pregnant. How he told her time and time again that there was no way that child was his. But she was as stubborn as he was. She did the DNA test he so desperately wanted and sure enough, the tests proved that the child was his.

Faba didn’t want to have anything to do with her or the child. He told her to go. He told her that he would pay for everything the child and she needed. Rent money for a house, food, schools, clothing, he would take care of it as long as he didn’t have to deal with the baby. 

She had told him she was hurt but not surprised. She told him her biggest regret was telling him that she was pregnant. She didn’t even shout at him but quietly left. 

When she left the feeling of guilt took her place. Sure, the child was an accident and they never dated. It was a little drunken mistake on his part. A foolish oversight. He was always so careful and the one time he didn’t….

Faba tried to shake it off and went back to focus on work. During the day, it went fine but at night it started to gnaw at him from the inside. 

When she was seven months pregnant he called her. He said that he would respect her decision to say no. But he had thought about this long and hard and would like to be a part of this child’s life. She would get full custody. He would not fight her on that, but he would love to see the child on birthdays, graduations, school plays, that kind of thing. 

She had raised her lip in disgust and had yelled at him. She wanted to know where he found the gal to do this. How she was alone for most of her pregnancy and now he only wanted to be part of the child’s life when it was convenient to him. “Why don’t you show up at his birth first, huh?” She had yelled at him before stomping off.

And so when he got a call two months later he was beside her when she gave birth. His hand felt numb due to her squeezing and the whole thing made him feel sick to his stomach. 

“Do you want to hold your son?” The nurse had asked him. 

He politely declined and said that it would be better if the boy was in his mother’s arms first. 

There was no magical moment like they describe in the movies. He didn’t see the most beautiful thing in the world. Just a disgusting looking mini-human, covered in blood and who knew what else. 

He held his son for the first time when the nurse had finished bathing and clothing him. Again there was no spark. No magical moment. No instantly falling in love. It remained an ugly thing in his eyes. 

The mother of the child seemed to disagree and loved him to the end of the universe and back. 

Faba went home with her a few days later. He sat there awkwardly while a group of strangers shot him dirty looks or completely ignored him. They all tried to focus on the mother and the child and tried to block the father out. 

He offered to stay with her for the first couple of weeks and she had agreed. He had to sleep on the couch though and pull his weight. 

As such he took the ‘night shift’ whenever his son cried Faba would pick him up and shush him till he calmed down. He would look at him while he softly hummed a song he could vaguely remember his own mother singing to him when he was very young. Still he felt nothing. The fact that he had to change the child and bathe it made it worse for him to like it. Not to mention the seemingly endless vomiting this little thing did. 

During the day he went to work but his mind stayed with child. He thought about his own childhood and how his parents had treated him. Sure they weren’t the best parents but did that mean he was destined to be a bad parent himself? He remembered the president and her children. How he had despised those two. The endless bothering, the horrible jokes, the times she had made him babysit while she went out with her husband. Disgusting. 

Still the one at home was his, why couldn’t bring himself to love it? He shook the thoughts away and always went home, trying to be the best father that he could be even though he knew he was terrible at it. 

His temporary stay at her home became permanent. He was the great Faba. Surely he could something as simple as loving the child he sired. He was determined to get himself to love the ugly worm at home. 

Everything became worse when the child grew older. Yes, he had become less fragile but he had become mobile. He would bolt away when Faba didn’t keep his eyes on him at all times. 

How many times had Faba apologised to shop owners and random strangers on the street when his son had gotten away again. Faba couldn’t even count the amount of times he had to scold his son for drawing on the walls of his mother’s home or eating something he wasn’t supposed to eat. 

“Sorry, Mr. Faba.”

“It won’t happen again. Mr. Faba.” 

He had taught his son to never call him father or dad. As soon as he started to talk he had corrected him. First Faba was acceptable but when his son’s vocabulary grew he demanded that the boy would call him ‘mister’ as well. So the boy lived with ‘mom’ and ‘mister Faba.’ He was too young to question it. 

The child was six when Faba decided to give up. He still didn’t feel anything for the boy despite spending time on him. 

He wanted to do this carefully. He waited for the perfect moment to tell the mother of his child. 

It felt like the universe was trying to tell him something when the boy fell ill. Suddenly his quiet life at home with mom and Mr. Faba was replaced by a large white room with scary machines and doctors with needles. 

The boy was scared, the mother even more so. Faba was calm and quiet. He kept his distance. He went to every doctors appointment and stayed for every operation. He read to his son at night before he went home and showed up during visiting hours. 

It was few weeks after the boy was admitted to the hospital when they were together. Faba had told the mother to take a night off and rest at home and that he would stay with him. He had assured her it would all be okay and that she would feel better in the morning. After much discussion, she agreed and went home.

The boy was weaker than ever. He barely noticed that his mother had left him. Faba set in a chair next to him, mindlessly staring at some magazine, side eyeing his son every now and again to check on him. He was laying in the way too big bed, hooked up to all kinds of machines. 

“Mr. Faba?”

“Hm?” 

“Do you love mom?” 

“Hm.” 

“Mom said.. that you were a doctor.” 

Not entirely untrue, he thought. He wasn’t that kind of doctor but a doctor none the less. He didn’t feel like explaining it to the child. He was also pretty sure that he wouldn’t understand.

“Yes.” 

The boy moved his head to look at Faba. Icy blue eyes staring into his own. 

“He has your eyes.” She has always said to him with regret in her voice. 

“Why won’t I get better?” 

For the first time in his life, Faba was speechless. He didn’t know what to say or do. Would he make up a lie? Would he tell the child it would all be okay? That he needed to go to sleep so it would all be better in the morning? 

Faba stammered for a bit. “I..I.. Ah.” 

“It’s okay if you don’t know. Sometimes even grown ups don’t know things.” The boy smiled at him and Faba felt his heart sink. “I made you something. It’s over there.” He raised his little arm and pointed to larger table in the quiet hospital room. 

Faba nodded and got up from the chair. “Is this it?” He grabbed a sketchbook from the table. 

“Yes.” 

Faba walked back to his chair and placed the sketchbook on his own lap and started to flip through it. It was filled with children’s drawings. Characters from TV show’s, Pokemon, his friends, other people. Faba didn’t knew which one was meant for him until he found it. A drawing of him and his son. Both smiling and holding hands. In green crayon he had written.

“Mr. Faba is my dad and he is cool.”

Faba didn’t noticed he was crying until his tears hit the paper of the sketchbook. 

Finally he felt it. That feeling he spend so much time looking for. He felt it from deep inside his core and warming him, creating a weird cocktail of sadness and love.

“I’m sorry..” The soft voice broke his trance. “Mom said I wasn’t allowed to write dad.. because she says you don’t like that but..” He couldn’t finish his sentence. Faba had wrapped his long arms around the boy and pulled him close, careful to not mess with any tubes or wires. He hid his face in his hair and softly rocked him back and forth. 

“Daddy’s going to make you all better. Don’t worry.” 

Faba didn’t sleep that night. He spend all night looking over his boy, softly stroking his hair and never keeping his eyes of him. 

The mother had come back in the morning to find him, staring at this sleeping son. His face stained with tears and large bags under his eyes. She had placed a hand on his shoulder. He got up and hugged for the first time since their one and only night together. He wrapped himself around her and sobbed softly. Repeating the words “I’m so sorry.” Over and over again. She gently stroke his back and cried with him. 

After that he became more involved. He offered ridiculous amounts of money to any doctor who was willing to help his child. 

The treatments seemed to stick and slowly but surely he got better. He stayed fragile and frail but Faba just told him he looked like him whenever he felt bad about that. 

After two years in the hospital he was well enough to attend regular school. Faba attended every event, every meeting and he gave bullies a piece of his mind when they had the audacity to make fun of his boy. 

His son grew older and graduated high school. A proud Faba watching him and telling everyone ‘That’s my son.’ 

The boy grew older still, the hospital visits a thing of the past. He met someone of his own and eventually moved out. Leaving his mother and father with an empty nest. 

They never married and had an open relationship. Every once in a while through the years they turned to each other for physical contact but either of them was happy just being good close friends who each dated someone of their own. She eventually married. He didn’t. Their son understood.

Faba was brought back to the present when he heard the door of his hospital room open. 

“Dad?” 

“Hm.”

“How are you feeling?”

“Hm.” Faba wanted to say so much more but he didn’t have the energy. 

“It’s okay.. I understand…” He went silent for a while. “Hey, this reminds me of way back when I was in the hospital. Do you remember that? Ah, you don’t have to answer.. I know talking is hard for you right now. You always kept that drawing. I actually..” The sound of something being taken out of a paper bag was heard. “I got it. You framed it. I hope you don’t mind I removed it from your home. I know how much you hate others touching your stuff.” He said with a smile as he placed the framed drawing on the small table next to the bed.

He sat down and looked at his frail, old father. “I can’t make this better, dad. I can’t.” Tears had started to fall from his face onto his hands. He didn’t bother to wipe them away. 

Faba braced himself and opened his eyes to look at his son, now an adult. He still looked like him. Faba took a deep breath and smiled a soft smile. “I love you.” His words were almost inaudible but they were heard none the less.

“I love you too, dad.” His son said to him as Faba closed his eyes again. He reached out his hand and softly stroked his father’s hair. It was now white and thinner than ever. 

Faba felt the warm touch of his son’s hand and he felt like he was smiling. A single tear escaped from the corner his eye as the continues beeping of the heart monitor turned into a long single one. 

He was buried one week later. His grave stone proving to the world that he was a loving father.


	2. Lady

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> AU in which Faba is born as a woman.

Faba was loved by her parents from the moment she was born. After eight boys her mother finally gave birth to a girl. She was her mother’s favorite and her father’s little princess. They adored their little angel with her icy blue eyes and little tuft of blonde hair. It didn’t matter to them that she didn’t look anything like the two of them. She was perfect and that was all that mattered. 

Faba quickly realised she could wrap anyone around her finger. She got out of working at the restaurant by saying she would rather spend it on school and if she ever got in trouble she would just pout and stare at people with those big blue eyes of hers. 

She was protected by her brothers when someone so much as dared to look at her wrong. The word ‘no’ soon lost meaning to her. She could get anything she wanted. Her parents, her peers, her teachers, her family, there was no one she couldn’t manipulate. 

Her ego went through the same grow spurt as her body did. Puberty was kind to her. 

Faba’s thin hair grew long and some crooked teeth were fixed by braces. She needed glasses but went with contacts instead. Her body gained some curves in all the right places. The only thing that she hated was her big nose but she used make up to distract people from it. Other than that she found herself beautiful. 

 

Popularity was thing she never had to work for. She entered high school with a small group of people she knew from middle school and quickly dumped them for better ones. Older friends with licences and access to other stuff she wanted or needed. As soon as they stopped being interesting or useful to her she would drop them. And if they complained about that she would make up a sob story and cry so she would look like the victim. 

 

When she reached her second year of high school she pretty much ruled the place. An unforgiving queen with impossible to reach standards. She found most people either too ugly or too boring to interact with.

Faba would never say that with so many words though. She had a knack for insulting people and making it sound like a compliment. It wouldn’t be until long after that they realised they had been insulted. Most people just took the hint and never spoke to her again out of anger of fear, others did try.

“I thought I told you to leave?” She said, not even bringing up the respect to look the other in the eye. Instead she was too busy applying lipstick, using the mirror in her locker. 

“That’s the thing though. You told me but I don’t agree. We were together for three months you owe me a bit more than what you did.” 

Faba closed her locker with a loud bang and glared at the boy, she had her eye on him for awhile. He had a license and could get her places. His grades were decent enough and he was part of some sports team. Faba didn’t listen to him enough to know which sport. Her glare quickly turned into a smile. 

“Listen… I told you. I worry about your grades. Didn’t your mother say you need to do better in school?” Faba didn’t give the boy a chance to respond. “So, I’m being kind and let you focus on that. Honestly.” She pouted and talked like she was about to cry. “This is hard for me too, you know. I really like you..” 

The truth was that he had become useless to her. She had found a new man who was slightly higher on the social ladder. He had his own car and was a senior with a brother in college who would often throw parties and she needed to attend those. 

He however, only wanted her as a girlfriend so she did the sensible thing and dumped her old one. It was like upgrading to a newer model of phone to her. The feelings of other people weren’t important. The most important thing in the universe was herself and people did well to understand that. 

“So. Is this permanent then? We’re really through? There is no chance for us? Is it goodbye forever” He asked her.

She cupped his cheek and spoke with a voice sweet like sugar. “Oh honey, I’m not saying no and forever is such a long time..” Faba wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him into hug. “Do well in school. Make your mother proud.” She let go of him and walked away. Letting him stand there, dumbfounded at what just happened. 

Faba had already forgotten about the boy, she had an important meeting to attend. A few days ago a new girl transferred to this school and she was kind enough to let her sit with her and her friends at their lunch table. The new girl had thanked her by accidentally spilling her juice on Faba’s shirt and Faba wanted to thank her for that. 

The girl was really chatty and had let slip that she had a girlfriend at this school. “How sad that that won’t be for long though..” She thought to herself as she spotted her new friend. 

The girl seemed to be with her girlfriend which suited Faba just fine. Faba walked up to the both of them, grabbed her new friend and kissed her. She pulled away and gave a nefarious grin. “That is to thank you for yesterday. I didn’t know it could be that good with a woman..” She ran her thumb over the mark her freshly applied lipstick left on the other’s mouth. 

Faba turned her attention to the other woman present. “Hello. I’m Faba. This one and I got to meet yesterday and it was absolutely fantastic. Isn’t that right, dear?” She placed a hand over the mouth of the girl she kissed before and kissed her cheek. 

The other women who hadn’t said anything so far looked at them both, glared and stomped away. 

“Bye!” Faba said as cheery as she could before pushing the other woman forcefully against the wall to pin her. “You made me look like a fool yesterday, do that again and I will promise your life will be a living nightmare. Do you understand?” 

The girl looked up and nodded, tears forming in the corner of her eyes.

“And if you tell anyone what happened, you’re dead. If I see you with your girlfriend again, you’re dead. Do I make myself clear?” 

The girl nodded again. 

Faba banged the wall behind her. “I said, do I make myself clear?” 

“Yes!” The other replied, realising Faba wanted to hear her speak. 

“Good.” Faba gave her a smile and a hug. “I’ll see you around.” With that she turned on her heels and walked away, leaving the poor scared girl alone. 

 

This is how she lived her life. Punishing people who did her ‘wrong’ and if she couldn’t do it herself she would find someone else to do it. Faba went from partner to partner, only interested in the interesting, rich and useful ones.

Her family didn’t have a lot of money to spare but they used whatever they had to spoil her. Her brothers would make comments on it at times but she just gave them a sweet look and a hug and thanked them from protecting her all those times and usually they would let it go. 

Faba didn’t go to college but did attend all the parties. She got a job at Aether and used her looks and ‘other talent’s’ to climb up the corporate ladder. 

Her tactic was letting others do all the work for her. In return she would date them or spend the night with them. It’s what landed her her job at Aether. Her boss either didn’t care of was too thick to catch on. 

Faba had a tiny squadron of employees doing all her work and she would hand it with her name written on it. They wrote her speeches and wrote scrips for her when she needed to do a presentation. If she messed up during one of those she would just smile sweetly and make a joke if that didn’t work she would start to cry, a thing she could do on demand. 

Despite the fact that most people despised her. Despite the fact that the only people who cared about her did so because she could do something in return, Despite the fact that she had no real friends. She was happy. She was successful, beautiful and rich. 

What more could she want?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [I've been calling her Fabitch]


	3. Vampire

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> AU in which Faba is a vampire

With a sigh he threw the book aside. A cheap novella about one his kind. It only took one of his brethren to mess everything up. They went from feared creatures of the night to objects of lust. 

He wouldn’t actually mind so much if this would mean he could roam about freely but that was not the reality. They liked his kind on paper but not in real life. His kind was hunted down and tortured in every possible way before being murdered. He saw their numbers slowly decline, powerless to do anything. Not that he would do anything if he could. His kind lived and worked alone, unlike those disgusting rabid dogs… They all liked it this way. They relied on themselves for survival. Weakness in numbers…

Faba’s train of thought came to a stop when he heard his phone vibrate. A beautiful trinket that was. Not only did it make survival easier. He could also see himself again. Mirrors were useless but cameras were a different story. 

“Is tonight still okay?” The person who had send the text was not a contact in his phone. Just a meaningless set of numbers that formed a phone number. Faba unlocked the phone and typed. 

“Yes. After sun down. Do not come earlier.” 

He pressed send and opened the front camera to look at himself. He raised his upper lip to admire his fangs. He adjusted his hair and glasses (that he wore for style) and clicked his tongue. “Looks good.” He said to himself. 

Faba had a few hours before his guest would arrive. He opened the e-mail-app on his phone with a grin. This beautiful trinket made his life so much easier. No longer did he have to go out to eat. No longer would have to deal with being invited in. All that he needed to do was place an advert on a website. “Young man looking for some fun. Gender does not matter.” That is all it took. Calling himself young was a bit of a lie. He was over 600 years old but everyone lies on those dating things don’t they? 

They would show up to his door. The shy ones, the confident ones, the angry ones, the sweet ones. All coming here with one goal in mind; a night of pleasure. If only they knew they would spend their last night here with him. Perhaps they would try and look better. Perhaps they would have taken that shower. Perhaps they would have talk to their families more. Oh how he hated that part. The talking. The endless talking about regrets, family and misery. Foreplay was obviously venting for some. 

Faba played his part. He sat there, nodded, he would place a hand on their knee, wrap an arm around their shoulders, comfort them.. All while fighting the urge to rip them to shreds. He might be an irredeemable monster to some.. but he had standards. He would treat them like the gentleman that he was till they drew their last breath. Faba let himself relax on his couch and let his longer slender fingers slide over the keys on the tiny device. He looked at their pictures and replied. “You go on Sunday… then I shall have you on Tuesday.” He muttered to himself. 

He almost had a month filled with ‘dinner-plans’ when the doorbell rang. He shot a look at his watch, a thing he took from someone that didn’t need it anymore, and realised this must be his guest for the evening. He quickly opened the front camera and gave himself a final look before opening the front door. 

He had to look down to look the other in the eye. The woman was short and chubby. Faba raised a brow when he noticed the other playing with her own hands. “Nervous.” Faba thought. 

“Is the lovely lady coming in.. or are we going to do this outside?” 

She responded with a gasp, almost like she was surprised he could speak, nodded and shot past him into his house. 

Faba rolled his eyes and closed the door. This was either going to be very easy… or extremely hard. He was hoping the former. He took a deep breath and smiled at her. “Can I take your coat?” He held out his hand. 

“Yes..” Her voice was sweet and soft. She quickly undid her coat and gave it to him. He grabbed it and hung in a closet. Faba then wrapped his arm around her shoulder and lead her into his living room. No negative reaction. That was good. 

“Does the lady want anything to drink?” It wasn’t like he didn’t want to know her name. It was just that people like her usually wanted to be anonymous. So until they would correct them he would call all his guests ‘lady’, ‘gentleman’ or any type of nickname he could come up with. 

She shook her head. “No.. I actually just.. want to..” The woman was struggling with the words. So shy.. and yet so eager. Faba turned her a bit so she was facing him. He grabbed her chin and gently titled her head so she was looking up to him. He gave a grin before placing his lips on her. “Peppermint. How kind.” He thought. 

The woman quickly wrapped her arms around him and held onto him like her life was depending on it. He would almost feel bad for her. Almost.

With their lips still locked he lead them to his couch and pushed her down on it. He moved on top of her and let his hands explore her soft body. Always be a gentlemen. Give them a little something of what they came for. That was his creed.

She was the one to break their kiss to gasp for air. Warm brown eyes looked into his icy blue ones. He was given a warm smile. He offered one in return. 

Faba placed a soft kiss on her nose, on her mouth and on her neck. He let his tongue glide over the delicate skin of her neck, creating a moist spot. He listened to her soft moans and ignored the fact that she was pulling his hair a little bit too hard. It would all be over soon. 

He placed his mouth on her neck again and let his teeth sink into her skin. She gasped and tried to pull him away. Faba used his own weight to keep her in place and pushed her against the couch by placing his hand against her shoulder. 

Faba sucked at the fresh wound he made as he moved his hand from her shoulder to her mouth to quiet her. Her begging and whimpering was killing the mood of this lovely dinner. She responded by grabbing his wrists but she was already to weak to do anything about her fate. A tear escaped from the corner of her eye and rolled down her cheek. 

He pulled away to watch the life drain from her. With two fingers he closed her eyes. Faba wiped his mouth on the collar of her shirt and sat up straight. 

“You weren’t half bad.. but you shouldn’t trust people you meet on the internet.” 

He moved from her lifeless body and fished his phone from his pocket. Faba dialled the only contact in his phone. One of those disgusting rabid dogs.. He would be rather caught dead than to be seen with one of them but they did clean up his mess for him. 

“Yes. You can come now. I don’t why that matters but female. Yes. Already dead.”


	4. Anger

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A memory that makes him angry

Faba had taught himself to perfectly control his anger. Even when he did feel like he was about to lose it he would take a deep breath and calm down. He would often rationalise it later and see that his initial reaction was foolish and he was always glad that he never acted on it. 

Except for one time.

He remembers it clear as day. He can play it back in his head like a terrible movie. Every moment is so vivid. 

“If Cosmog ever returns to us.. then we will act as follow.” His boss had said. 

Faba stood there and listened to the words. He knew what was expected of him and he would preform his job flawlessly, as always. They had this meeting many times since the little runt got away. Faba wondered while she felt the need to repeat her words to him but he blamed it on the stress of her children betraying her. This is why he would never procreate. Children were bound to fail their parents from the start. 

His train of thought came to a stop when she mentioned a name that wasn’t mentioned when this plan was discussed before. “… Guzma will go with me.” 

Admitably he hadn’t been listening to her whole story this time. He tended to filter her voice if it ever got boring to him.

“I apologise.. Who?” 

“Faba… I need my branch-chief here. You are our last line of defence. I can’t risk having you near me when I need you on the front lines.” She had walked up to him and had put a hand on his shoulder. “Only you can do it.” 

He had dismissed himself after he had thanked her. His rage boiling up inside him. Faba had walked back to his office in a face pace, not stopping to correct or insult anyone on how they were doing their job. 

Faba had disappeared into his office and had leaned against the cold door for a bit before throwing off his glasses and coat. “Him!?” He had asked over and over again. 

The first thing that fell victim to him was a trashcan that he had kicked so hard it had left a dent. Then his office chair and some books had to face his wrath. He gave the chair a kick and when it hit his shelf a few books had fallen out. Instead of picking them up he had pulled all his books off the shelf and had thrown then across the room. 

He went on a rampage for over an hour before he tired himself out. When he came to his senses he was sitting in his destroyed office. His belongings either on the floor or destroyed. 

Faba could see himself in a mirror. It was broken so he could see himself countless of times. He looked at his hand and saw his white glove stained with red. He only now noticed the sharp pain in his hand and he regretted punching his mirror. 

Still all those versions of him looking at him had triggered something within him. 

Perhaps he wasn’t chosen… but he could still be the amazing person that he was. He had gotten up and had put his coat back on. First he tended to his hand and then he started to clean up the mess he had made. Silently vowing to himself that he would show her that he was worth it. He would show her that he could stop those horrid little pest. 

He would show her that she was wrong.


	5. Childhood

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A childhood memory

Faba quietly opened the kitchen door, the one that was always open as long as people were home. He held his breath as he stepped inside, hoping to not run into anyone. 

He wasn’t supposed to be here. He was supposed to be in school. He was eight years old and it wasn’t time to come home yet. His mother had forbidden him to walk to the house alone. He was always supposed to wait for her or Vicia to show up. 

Faba’s classes wouldn’t end for another three hours. He had snuck away during lunch break and decided to go home. Even though he was young he knew the way well. It took him about 20 minutes and this was counting the few times he did walk the wrong way. 

He took off his shoes and placed them near the door. He took another deep breath and started to move through the kitchen, as quietly as possible. His goal was upstairs; the bathroom. With his eyes and ears open he walked up the stairs and avoided the steps that he knew made a noise when stepped on.

The door of the bathroom was in sight and he dared to make little dash. He slipped into the bathroom and closed the door behind him.

Faba grabbed the tiny stool that he used so he could see himself in the mirror and gave himself a look.

There was a bit of dried blood on his upper lip and his left eye was bruised and purple. He smiled at his reflection to look at the gap between his teeth. 

After looking at himself for a bit he fished around in his pockets and found his glasses. They were snapped in two. He remembered his mother and father saying how pricey they were and that he needed to be careful with them. 

Looking at the broken spectacles he felt guilty and opened a cabinet. He knew there was some sort of special tape in here. He saw his father use it on his brothers when they had a sports injury.

After a few moments he found it the roll of tape and used it to ‘fix’ is glasses. He put them on and looked at himself. He thought he looked like an idiot. Like a nerd on one of those old TV shows who always have their glasses taped together with white tape. That is how he looked now. A nerd. 

He hopped of the stool again and got a cloth for his lip and started to practice an excuse on how he got hurt. Perhaps he could say he fell or that he hit himself in the face.

Faba hated lying, especially to his family but he didn’t want to burden them. He couldn’t say he was beat up again by the same group of people. He already knew how it would play out if he told the truth. His father would sigh and would give him a disappointed look, his brothers would snicker or laugh and his mother wouldn’t do much at all.

He was busy dabbing his upper lip and nose when the sound of the bathroom door opening made him freeze up with fear. He totally forgot to lock it like an idiot. 

He moved his neck and came face to face with his mother. The blood stained cloth still in his hand. He waited for her line of questioning but they never came.

“I fell.” He finally lied to her. 

She sighed and placed the laundry basket she was holding down and walked over to him. 

Faba averted his eyes and waited for some sort of reaction but the one that he got wasn’t the one he expected. 

His mother had taken the cloth from him and was cleaning his face for him. She took of his glasses and placed a cold rag on his eye as well. 

He stared at her with his mouth slightly open and let her do her thing. He noticed that she was looking sad and he noticed how warm her hands were. 

“Tell me if this hurts, okay?” Her voice was soft and sweet. She placed her thumb and finger on his nose and gently squeezed. 

“It doesn’t hurt.” He said.

“Good.” She gave him a genuine smile and put the rag down. She then stood up and picked him and pulled him close as she carried him back to the kitchen. 

He wrapped his tiny arms around her neck and hid his face in the nook of it. He smelled her scent. That mix of sugar and perfume. That smell that would always calm him no matter what. He noticed her warmth and heartbeat and her long dark hair. He noticed her hand on his back as she was stroking him as to calm him. Which he found odd, he wasn’t upset at all.

His mother placed him in a chair and ruffled his hair with a sad smile before turning her back on him.

“Those same kids again? You don’t have to lie. I won’t get mad.” 

Faba didn’t say anything but nodded. “I’m sorry about the glasses..” 

“It’s okay, baby. Accidents happen. You fixed them, right?” She kept talking to him as she walked to fridge to grab some ingredients. 

He pushed the glassed back on his nose and nodded. “Yes, good as new!” He smiled at her with his smile full of missing teeth. “Can I ask what you are doing?” He asked in a soft voice.

“I’m making you some nice food.”

“Why?”

“Because you are hurting right now.” 

Faba was quiet for a bit. He wasn’t really hurting. Yes the bruised eye and his nose felt painful but he wouldn’t say he was hurt but then he realised that maybe she wasn’t doing this for him.. but for her. Maybe, just maybe, she was the one hurting right now. 

“Thank you..” He said to her as she watched her cook him a meal. He soon noticed it was his favorite dish. Faba opened his mouth to say something but the sight of his mother crying made him swallow his words. 

He jumped off the chair and wrapped his arms around her legs. “I’m sorry for skipping school and breaking the glasses. Please don’t cry. I don’t want you to cry, mom!” He hid his face in the fabric of her skirt and felt a warm hand on his head. 

She didn’t look at him as she spoke. “Faba, listen to me. We don’t get a lot of moments like this. Just the two of us together..” She turned the heat down and squatted so she could look him in the eyes. “I love you. You are a sweet boy. I know people are unkind to you. I know your father and brothers aren’t helping. I know I am not helping. I don’t know what to do.. I don’t..” She wrapped her arms around him and pulled him close. 

“But.. I know you are so strong. I know you can take care of yourself. I know you are going to be amazing at what you end up doing. I know you’ll show all those who wrong you. I know you’ll prove them wrong. And more importantly.” She pushed him away slightly so she could look in his eyes. “I’ll know you’ll make me proud.”


	6. Mother's touch

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Faba visits home

Her hair had become lighter. Grey strands of hairs intertwined with dark brown. It was impossible for her to sit right now. The nerves kept her up all night and she was still restless. She cleaned every nook and cranny of her humble home. Every time she thought she could sit down her nerves told her to go do something. Right now she was staring at a book she planned to read to keep her mind of things. She hadn’t flipped a single page since she started over an hour ago.

Her husband had called her foolish. They had their first fight since a long time. She never worried about their relationship. They rarely fought. They had disagreements but they rarely had any real conflict. They agreed on most things and they were able to accept and love their differences. A feeling of guilt filled her stomach. She took a sip of her tea, trying to subdue it.

“You are going to get hurt, Pinto” He had told her. “This is idiotic.” He had added. She had told him that there was no reason for him to stay here if he didn’t want to. He was allowed to go to work. It was her home and her day off so she could spend it as she liked. He had sighed and had wrapped his arms around her, giving her a kiss on her head and promising that he would be there for her.. but that he would like to not be here today. She had nodded and had told him that she loved him.

They had both decided to not tell any of the boys. They were all adults and, save for one, none of them lived at home anymore. She had decided on her own that she would tell them eventually.

She grabbed her bookmark and placed it back in the book before closing it. Her eyes traveling to the laptop on the coffee table. Without thinking she opened her e-mail again and checked the time that was written there. 2 o’clock. The tiny clock on her laptop told her that was one hour ago. A feeling of sadness mixed with disappointment filled her. She noticed that she was losing the fight against her tears as one fell onto the keyboard.

With a soft sigh she dragged the e-mail to the tiny trash can on her desktop and listened to the sound of crumbled up paper that it made. With another sad sigh she closed her laptop and stood up, ready to call her husband and tell him that he was right.

She preferred the old phones and pressed the first number for the restaurant when a knock on the door made her freeze up. Everything was silent even she had stopped breathing for a few moments when a second knock made her gasp.

She shot up from the couch and walked to the door. Her old hand resting on the doorknob. To give herself some courage she slapped her cheeks twice and took a deep breath. With one swift motion she opened the door.

He was standing there. Taller than she remembered. Skinnier than she remembered. Older than she remembered. Icy blue eyes looking at her through green-glasses.

“I am home, mother.”

She wanted to speak but not a single word came out. She stammered for a bit before lurching forward and wrapping her short arms around him. He managed to keep balance and stood there awkwardly while his mother cried in his chest. 

He moved a trembling hand to stroke her greying hair, hoping that she would appreciate it or, at least, wouldn’t push him away. 

Pinto moved away after a few moments and wiped her tears with her sleeve. “I’m so sorry.. it has been so long.” She reached up to caress his cheek and had to stand on her tiptoes to do so. “You’re so big..” 

“I grew.” Faba knew his answer was stupid but he didn’t know what to say. He hadn’t seen her in over 15 years. What do you say in such a moment? 

“Come, it’s cold out!” She grabbed him by his slender wrist and lead him inside his childhood home. He looked around for a bit. Faba was sure his home was bigger. It was so big in his memory but now it seemed small. 

“Sit, sit!” She was still holding on to him with a fierce grip as if she was afraid that he would dash and run if she ever let go. She pushed him onto the couch and let her hands rest on his slender shoulders while she stood there. 

Pinto gave him a teary smile before speaking. “Do you want tea?” Faba nodded and Pinto walked away with her eyes on him before finally turning to leave for the kitchen. 

Faba allowed himself to relax and looked across the room. The photo’s that used to be on the wall were replaced with newer ones. His brothers and their partners and children, photo’s of his mother and father. On the mantle he noticed a photo of himself. It was the last photo that was taken of him in high school. He cringed at the awkward sight but also felt warm at the same time. They cared enough to keep a picture, he thought. 

His mother came back holding a tray with two cups and placed them on the table. 

They stared at each other for a bit before he petted the seat on the couch next to him to indicate she could sit there. Her eyes lit up at the gesture and she sat next to him. 

Faba was looking at his hands and his mother did the same. They sat there in silence for a few moments before they started to speak at the same time.

“Please, mother. Go first.” 

She didn’t argue with him and grabbed his hands. Her warm tiny hands around his big cold ones. 

“I missed you…” Were the first words out of her mouth. “I knew you would leave eventually. I didn’t realise it would happen so soon. You were just gone one day. No note. No message. I understood though..” She squeezed his hands tighter.

“You were always so alone. So fragile. No one helped. Not even me. Your own mother didn’t even help.” Tears were forming in her eyes but she swallowed the lump in her throat and continued. “But look at you now. Look at all the things you did. On your own.” Pinto looked up to look her son in the eyes. “I’m so proud of you.” 

Finally hearing the words he always wanted to hear made Faba lose control. He removed his hands from hers and wrapped his arms around her. His face hidden in the nook of her neck. Try as he might he couldn’t stop the tears from falling. He smelt her scent again. The smell he had so missed these past years. He felt how soft she was and how warm. 

His mother pushed him away after a while and removed his glasses. She fished a handkerchief out of her pocket and wiped his tears for him. 

“Such a handsome man you’ve become..” She let her hand rest on his cheek and he pushed his head against her hand. “So much you have accomplished..” Pinto handed him the handkerchief and stood up, leaving her son alone in the room. 

Faba felt the familiar feeling of a headache that he would get after relieving his stress. His mother, despite everything, still loved him, still cared for him and most important of all, was proud of him. The warmth that had seeded itself within him with the photo had spread through his entire body. 

Pinto came back into the room carrying a big book and sat down next to him again. Before he could ask what it was she had opened it. “I’ve collected all that I could find about you since you left home. At first.. I was afraid. I couldn’t find anything at all. I was so scared that something might had happened to you.. but then you popped up!” She turned her head to look at him. 

“The first photo I found was you with facial hair.” She reached out and gave his goatee a gentle tug. “It suits you.” 

She directed her attention back to her book and flipped through it. Every single accomplishment was in there. His promotion, his work, tiny stuff about his personal life he had shared with the public. It was all in there. 

Faba watched her explain his life to him. He watched her point at the photos and saw how her eyes filled with pride. 

After an hour she closed the book and smiled at him. “You must have some questions for me too.” 

He looked away and bit his lip. “Father and the others…” He fumbled with his own fingers, afraid of the answer. 

“Your father, he knows that you are here. Your brothers do not. Uh…” She felt a bit guilty about the reason for it. “I didn’t knew if you were coming and I didn’t want them to..” 

“I understand.” 

“Listen.. There is no excuse for the way we treated you. I won’t try to make any. But I always loved you. Looking back now, I realise that I never showed it. Or barely showed it. But I loved you.. No scratch that. I love you.” 

“And father?”

“I… He must feel something for you. You are his son but… I don’t know. Every converstation I tried to have about you always ended in fights so eventually.. I stopped bringing you up. I’m sorry.”

Faba placed a hand on her leg to indicate her that it was alright. 

“Your brothers.. shouldn’t have gotten that much room to hurt you. I gave them that room and they knew they would get away with it. I cant’ do anything but apologise to you for that..” 

“I need to apologise too.” Faba said while looking at his mother. She noticed and looked him in the eye as well. 

“For what?”

“I suddenly left. I could have at least left a note. I didn’t. I was angry. I was upset. I was only thinking about myself. I want to make it up to you. I know 15 years is a lot of time to make up for but I can try. If.. you let me..” 

She smiled at her son and pointed at the cups. “Why don’t you start then… by making us some new tea.”


	7. Prison

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> AU in which Faba goes to jail.

A crack in the ceiling’s paint. That is what was Faba’s view for the past months and would be for the rest of his life. One would think he would be upset or sad by the turn of events but the opposite was true.

Faba’s smirk hadn’t left his face since he was arrested. The fact that those people thought they arrested him all by themselves was hilarious to him. He knew the truth; he knew that he wanted to be arrested. Running from the law had became boring. He was tired of feeling his blood thirst. So he started to being less careful and within no time he was arrested.

He remembers it well. His arrest, his trial, his first day in his new ‘home’. The news papers called him ‘The Doctor from hell’. A title he saw as compliment.

He wasn’t doing something special at the moment of his arrest. If he recalls correctly, and he always does, he was drinking tea and reading the paper. A knock on the door and that is all it took for him. He knew that this were his last moments as a free man.

The people who came for him were so nice. The was merely ‘under suspicion’ and ‘innocent until proven guilty.’ They asked him to come quietly and he did. Why struggle against something he personally had set up?

He was a model criminal. He sat in the interrogation room, drinking terrible tea and answering every minor question that was asked. Faba wasn’t one to change his mind about things, especially not about something that would so drastically change his life forever. The thing was however, that Faba didn’t like the attitude of the person talking to him. The whole condescending attitude rubbed him the wrong way. So when the questions started to turn more serious he kept his mouth shut tight.

“Is there something wrong?” The investigator asked when Faba refused to answer any more questions.

Faba played with the plastic stirrer he was given, even though he had never asked for sugar. The stirrer was meaningless, had no function other than giving him something to do with his hands. “Anything that I say can and will be used against me, yes?” He gave the woman with him a plastic smile. “That’s how it goes, right? Or is that just a TV and movie thing?”

She was already annoyed with his sudden change in attitude and didn’t appreciate him being a smart ass. “It’s fair if you don’t want to talk to me. You are still innocent. I can’t let you go though.”

“That’s fair.”

“Do you have an attorney? If you can’t afford one we will arrange one for you.”

“I would like to defend myself. I’m very capable.”

“You have a degree in law?” She tried to talk to him about himself. More often than not it would trigger a response and they would reveal more than they wanted to.

“No.” He simply said with the same smile as before. “No degree. I’m just that confident that it will work out for me.”

She tried a few more questions but, true to his word, he stayed quiet. He just sat there with a grin and one raised eyebrow as to ask with his facial expression if she was serious.

Finally she gave up with a sigh and escorted him to a holding cell.

His trial was a few days later. He stalled on purpose. He played on the jury’s feelings, he tried to manipulate the judge. Everything to buy time for no other reason than spite. After he felt like he bothered these people long enough he spoke.

“Your honour… Lovely people of the jury… Family of my alleged victims… How are you?” He got up from his seat and paced around slowly. “No response? Okay. Rude.” A smug grin was plastered across his face, more than pleased with what he was about to do. “I get why you are upset with me. I said alleged victims… that’s not true now, is it? We all know it. I’ve decided I wasted everyone’s time and tax money long enough. Let the record show that I am guilty. I admit to everything I am charged with.”

A gasp went through the room, then silence, then anger. Faba had walked back to his chair and sat down, letting his feet rest on the desk and his hands behind his hand. He listened to the commotion with a smug smile and vaguely heard the judge give him a life long sentence. He didn’t care. It was how he planned it to go.

Faba held out his hands so he could be cuffed and was escorted out of the building. Family and friends of his victims yelled at him, spat at him, did everything to show their anger but Faba didn’t care in the slightest. He gave them a genuine smile as he was put in the van.

They needed to take a plane to the place he would spend the rest of his days. He sat between two officers who refused to talk to him, no matter how hard he tried.

On the airport he was escorted into a van again which drove him all the way to the prison.

It had big concrete walls with barbwire and a large area of ground between the walls and the building itself. He guessed that was for idiots who tried to escape. It’s easier to spot them when you can easily see them running around on an open field.

Faba figured he left his humanity in the van because as soon as he foot had touched the soil on the ground he was treated like an animal. A large woman shouted orders at him and he did what she asked. He found her a bit to handsy and told her so. It was then when he learned his new name: Inmate.

“Inmate..” He let the word roll around in his mouth. It wasn’t weird to be called that. It actually felt like an accomplishment, like a title that he earned. He let the loud mouth lady, who told him that she wasn’t going to bother with telling him her name as he wasn’t allowed to use it anyway, do what she wanted.

“Usually they buy me dinner first.” He commented while she preformed the mandatory cavity search.

“Quiet, inmate!” She barked at him. Faba grinned and rolled his eyes but did shut up.

She found nothing on him and he was allowed to get dressed again. The outfit was ugly and an eyesore. He was given an beige overall and black combat boots that were just a size too big. Faba decided that he didn’t want to bother with asking for a correct size and he planned on rarely wearing them anyway.

He was to be locked up in his cell with only one hour of fresh air everyday. If he was good and behaved that time may go up. If he behaved badly he was forced to stay inside all day.

That’s what the person who walked him to his cell said. Faba managed to already lose his fresh air for the first two weeks by asking if he could place the golden stars for good behavior on the board himself.

“Welcome to your new home.” The guard said as she opened the heavy steel door. The door was dented and it’s paint was chipped. It had a tiny slot that could be opened to talk and to give the person inside the cell their food.

The room was tiny. Faba used to own a closet bigger than it. It had a elevated part which had a thin foam sheet on it. He guess that that was his pillow. In the corner was a sink and toilet combo made of stainless steel. Finally he could spot a window. If he could call it that. It was four inches wide and only allowed a bit of sun to shine through.

“We will knock twice on the door.” The guard knocked twice to let Faba know how it sounded. If you hear that you need to stand against the wall and spread your arms and legs. No talking to us. No asking questions. You just do it. Do you got that?”

Faba remained where he was and kept his lips pressed together.

“I asked you something, inmate!”

“I thought I wasn’t allowed to talk to you.” Faba said, the glee in his voice was obviously there.

“That’s three weeks without fresh air, inmate. Keep it up.”

“Thank you!”

“That’s four weeks.” The guard sighed and continued her introduction. “You get food three times a day. We expect you to eat it. Your cuffs go off inside the cell.. unless you misbehave then they stay on. You are allowed to have visitors..” She said it like she was absolutely sure that no one would ever visit him. Faba figured she was right about that.

“While you are here you can think about what you did. You are going to talk to someone at least once a week. They want to know why you did the things you did. They will fill you in on the details. You don’t get entertainment here. We do have a library. You can ask a guard about that since you aren’t allowed to leave your cell. You aren’t allowed to work or go out. You should be thankful they didn’t give you the death sentence.” The hatred was obvious in her voice. “I’m going to un-cuff you. Stand against the wall and spread your legs. You will stay in that position until after I have left. When the door closes you will count to sixty. Then you can move again.”

Faba assumed the position she requested and she in turn undid his cuffs. He heard the door close and be locked a few moments later and counted to sixty. After a while he let his head rest against the cold concrete of the cell wall. He couldn’t help but laugh. He basically got away with everything. Sure he would be spending the rest of his life here but he always felt trapped. At least now he had someone to talk to. At least once a week someone was going to have to talk to him. Best of all; tax payers were paying for his lovely new home. If anything this was a accomplishment.

No one would come visit him. That was also perfect. He didn’t like most people from his life outside these walls anyway. Now they wouldn’t bother him. He would be fed three times a day and they would make sure he actually ate. Truly being locked up was the best thing that ever happened to him. If he ever got bored of being here… well he could just decided to opt out.

The days went by. He talked to his counselor like he was instructed. He soon figured out what to say and what not to say. Faba always managed to drag out their conversation for as long as possible. He would purposely answer something wrong or say something odd so that she was forced to talk to him longer. Either she didn’t care to talk to him for long periods or time or she seriously wasn’t catching on that he was playing with her but she always humored him.

The days turned into weeks which turned into months and he got bored. The people who worked with him were all seasoned veterans at their job and it was impossible to manipulate them. On top of that he couldn’t get anything. He needed a special card to buy luxuries like better toothpaste, a safety razor or a comb. The problem was that someone on the outside needed to arrange that for him and people weren’t exactly lining up to help him. His only option was to use was little the prison gave him.

As a result he had become messy. His hair grew longer, though not thicker and greasy. His goatee turned into a messy long beard. Faba only showered when they forced him to. Not because he didn’t want to be clean but because he wanted to annoy them.

His new entertainment came around a year after he was first locked up. He got a new counselor. A new guy. The type of guy who would still wear a nice suit everyday and would do everything by the book. Fresh meat who would want to get on the inmates good side.

Faba was delighted with his new play thing. The poor thing was nervous. He could tell. A spark of uncertainty still in his eyes with a hint of fear.

Faba was cuffed to the table so he wouldn’t be able to attack the fresh meat. This was standard procedure. The stainless steel bar they used for cuffing up inmates had been worn down. It has been damaged by savages who were too stupid to listen. To weak to remain level headed. Faba would sometimes hear them scream at night. How pathetic. Something as little as being locked up with only a hour of fresh air a day wouldn’t get Faba down. He would be here till his dying breath if only to waste more tax payer money.

He had been smugly watching his new friend read over his file, waiting for him to say the first few words.

“Inmate…”

“You can use my name. I will use yours too.”

“You are aware that’s not at allowed. It’s a rule..” The other tried to explain.

“I know about the rules but aren’t they meant to be broken? Besides, we all know I am here because I took the wrong turn when I was planning to feed the homeless…” Faba said, obviously hinting at the fact that the other was working with criminals, not really the type to follow rules.

The other man sighed and closed the file on his desk. “Listen.. I’m new here you and I know you can tell. I read your file. I know what you did. You have been here a year.. how are you holding up?” He grabbed a pen and notepad, planning to write down anything interesting Faba said.

“Oh, it’s lovely!” Faba made himself sound as optimistic as possible. “Though I don’t care for the wake up service, the food is only average at best and the cocktails at the bar are disgusting.”

His counselor looked at him with his mouth slightly open. “You are aware this is a prison… right?”

“No!” Faba said with a grin. “Now, you’re telling me. That explains why they wouldn’t let me check out. Here I thought my card got declined.”

The other looked at him and blinked a few times, unsure on what to do. He had read that this guy before him was a master at manipulation but this wasn’t manipulation. This was being annoying on purpose. He wondered what his end goal was. To annoy him so much he would never talk to him again? To be funny so he would like him?

He shook his head and tried a different approach.

“I see you never had a visitor.”

“I found that odd. I mean, I’m only a serial killer. Why aren’t people lining up to see me, right?”

“No family?” The other pressed on, trying to ignore the snarky comments.

“They are alive if that is what you’re asking but surprisingly enough they aren’t really excited to see their murderer son in prison.”

“They haven’t contacted you at all? No letters? No messages?”

“Complete silence.” Faba cocked his head slightly. “Why?”

“Don’t you miss human interaction? I mean it must be hard not to talk to anyone for so long. Yes, you got us but we get paid to-“

The others sentence was cut short by Faba’s sudden movement. He shot up from his chair, only stopped by his hands cuffed to the table. He had fire in his eyes as he spoke. “Don’t…” He remained as he was; standing slightly hunched to this arms still being cuffed to the table. “Don’t…” He repeated.

“Don’t… what?” Faba’s reaction had scared him and he had pressed himself against his chair. He wasn’t willing to give up now. This was the first real reaction he got from the inmate and he was curious if he could press further.

Faba gave his cuffs a tug, hoping they would break but of course they didn’t. These were made to last. “It’s none of your business.” He hissed.

“It kind of is though… That’s my whole job.”

Faba gave a final tug before sitting down again. “I don’t want to talk to people. People are annoying. There are too many of them and I tried to solve that problem. What do I get for my troubles? A life sentence. I will never see the outside world again, unless I escape.”

“Are you thinking about escaping?”

“And go into hiding again? No thanks. It’s great here. I get food, people who look out for me, one hour of fresh air if I’m nice. If someone finally helps me so I can buy stuff I can read some books…”

“You can’t do that yet?”

“No. You need someone on the outside to help you with that, foolproof system by the way, but since I don’t have anyone to do that I’m stuck.”

“The library is free to all inmates.”

“I know, smart ass but I’m not allowed to leave my cell and your darling coworkers aren’t exactly helpful.” He raised a brow and waited for the other’s reaction.

“I can see if I can help you with that…” He wrote something down on his notepad. “In the meantime I can offer you a place in a writing program-“

“No.” Faba interrupted.

“You didn’t even let me finish.”

“I never was a gentleman. I know what you are referring to and no. I will not write sad people who have nothing better to do than write inmates.”

He looked at Faba and swallowed his original reply. “Well the offer stands…”

“Make it sit down. I will never do it.”

The other male sighed and put his pen down. “This is all the time I have for you today. I would like it if we could speak a bit more honest next time or this will go nowhere. We are here to help you.”

“Help me do what?” Faba snapped. “Be a better person? You’re a little too late for that. Don’t you understand? I am a murderer. I killed people and I enjoyed doing it. Watching the life drain from their eyes made me feel alive. You can’t fix me. I don’t want to be fixed. I am perfectly fine with who I am. I don’t regret what I did and if you let me out today I would do it again… but you won’t let me out. I’m going to be here forever so why bother ‘helping’ me?”

“So you can find inner peace.”

“I AM AT PEACE!” He yelled at the now even more afraid male. “Just accept that people are messed up. Accept that they want to do this. That this is sport. Accept that.” Faba cursed being stuck to the table. This was the perfect moment for a dramatic exit. Instead he had to wait till two guards showed up who escorted him back to his cell.

Two weeks later he was finally able to buy things. Faba told him that he wasn’t going to like him and the other male told him that was perfectly fine. Faba had rolled his eyes and had sighed loudly but went to the little sessions without anymore outbursts.

Nothing worth mentioning happened in his life until a cold morning about five years after he was first locked up.

Faba was on his bed, staring at a book and not really reading it when two knocks on the door broke his trance.

Out of routine he got up and stood against the wall as instructed.

“You got a visitor, inmate. Believe it or not but someone wants to see you.”

His hands were cuffed forcefully. “I always love that friendship bracelet…”

“Quiet!” The guard ordered.

The guard and his friend escorted him to the visitor area. A small room that was divided into two. On the one side were the inmates and on the other the people who came to see that. They were separated with a row of benches and a thick glass wall. The only way for the people on either side to hear each other was to use a phone.

Faba let himself get dragged along until he saw who was sitting on the other side of the glass; his mother. He suddenly protested and tried to squirm free. “I don’t want this… Take me back…”

He weighed nothing to him and they placed him in the uncomfortable plastic chair. A new guard, with gun and all, looking at all of the inmates from her spot. Ready to shoot if someone tried something.

He was given slightly different cuffs when they left so that he could move his hands a bit more.

His mother sat in front of him. Her dark eyes staring into his icy blues. She had the phone pressed against her ear and hoping he would do the same.

He found it hard to do something as simple as pick up the phone but eventually he did it with a deep sigh. He never broke eye contact and hoped that she would speak first.

He saw her swallow a few times before speaking. “Faba..”

“Mother…”

A wave of relief went over her. After everything he still called her mother.

“How are you, mother? Did you find everything okay? I would give you a tour of my new home but I haven’t had the chance to clean up yet. My bad.”

“What happened to you?” Her relief was replaced by sadness again. Not anger or disappointment. Just sadness.

“I didn’t know it was frowned upon to kill people-“

“Faba!” She said like he was a child who did something minor.

“What!?”

“Don’t speak so lightly of human life!”

“Human life?” He scoffed. “You want to start with me about human life? Since when do you value that?”

The woman was taken aback by his response and stammered.

“Of course you are silent. You always were. You watched me suffer and you did nothing!” He shot up from his chair but kept the phone in his hand.

“Inmate!” The guard warned him but Faba ignored her.

“Why are you here now? To make you feel better about yourself? Did you come to look at me and see that I am changed? That I know I made mistakes but that I feel so bad about them now?” He hissed his words, a bit of saliva dripping from his mouth and onto the tiny counter between them.

She didn’t give him a response and averted her eyes.

“This is so typical! You always did this! You watched me suffer and then pretended it didn’t happen! Or worse! You used to take me into your lap and make me feel loved! You made me food that I liked! You said you loved me! You encouraged me to be a doctor!” Faba’s voice was breaking and his mother’s face had become stained with her own tears.

“I wanted to make you proud but you never loved me! You loved everyone but me! I was never enough for you!” He jabbed his finger against the glass with every word. “So don’t you dare… don’t you dare come in here and say that I need to value human life. I may be a murderer but I never made them suffer. You sentenced me to life time of suffering. That’s on you!”

“Inmate, calm down…” The guard had walked up to them and the whole room was staring, even those behind the other side of the glass who had no way of knowing what was being said.

“Don’t touch me!” Faba hissed, while tears streamed down his face.

“Calm down.” She placed a hand on his shoulder which made Faba loose it. He threw the phone against the glass, which bounced right off. The guard grabbed him and shoved him against the counter as more guards came to help.

“Look at me!” He screamed at the phone while trying to keep eye contact with his mother. “You did this to me! Aren’t you proud of your boy now!? You did this to me!”

He kept screaming those last words over and over again as they dragged him back to his cell.

His mother staring in complete shock at what just happened. She remained there for a few more minutes before leaving.

She would never see her son again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I might do a sequel to this because this Faba is fun to write


	8. Goodbye Aether

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Faba quits Aether  
> (Continued in rp's on branch-chief--faba.tumblr.com

Faba was sitting on the floor, his back against the wall and a half empty bottle of chianti in his hand. He wasn’t one to drink straight from the bottle but then again he barely knew who he was anymore.

Up to a few weeks ago he seemed to have it together. He had an amazing job, people who respected him and he could do what he what he always wanted but time is a cruel mistress and makes fools of us all. He had kept his Pokemon in their balls. He would let them roam free for as much as he could but he didn’t want to burden them with his negative emotions. 

The only one who was allowed to be near him right now was his beloved Raichu. He kept him on his lap like a stuffed animal and occasional fed it some beans from his pocket. 

Faba placed the bottle next to him and hugged his friend tightly, hiding his face in it’s fur. 

“We’ve been friends since forever, right? You don’t think I’m terrible… do you?” 

Faba fed him another bean and he grabbed a hold of Faba’s fingers. That was all he needed to finally break down.

He was calm when she chose that criminal over him. He was calm when he was demoted. He was calm when they made fun of him and belittled him. He let her talk down on him. He let everyone have their fun but he couldn’t take it anymore. 

Tears fell from his eyes and onto his glasses. “Don’t let them see you like this. Don’t let them see you being weak.” He told himself in a soft and broken voice. There was no one here but him. Only he was forced to work this late at night. If they found him like this he’d be in trouble but he was past the point of caring. 

Faba’s sadness quickly turned into anger but he kept his voice soft and controlled to not spook his precious friend.

“Leave Aether? Pah! I did everything for them! I gave them my all! My best work! Tsk!” He let go of his Raichu, he didn’t want to squeeze the poor thing. It removed itself from Faba’s lap and placed it’s head on his knee. 

“But the new management don’t like what happened here! But since the real bad guy is gone they need someone to blame. Oh! I know!” He did an impression of Wicke’s voice. “Let’s blame Faba! He was never good for anything anyway!” 

Faba banged his head agains the wall a few times. “I followed orders. Do they honestly think I was in a position to decline any request?” 

He let a hand go through his hair and let his blue eyes met the same blue eyes of his beloved friend. “Maybe… we should leave. Who cares, right? Obviously not them. I only gave them my best years. We need someone who respects us. All of us! You!” He petted the creature’s head. “And every single one of our friends.” Faba was referring to his other Pokemon, safely in their balls. “You didn’t do anything wrong. I’m sorry if I made you do something you didn’t want to do.”

Faba sighed and looked at the bottle. He got on his knees and picked his Raichu up and carried it like a one would carry a toddler. For the drama of it all he kicked over his bottle of wine and walked to his old office, which was now used by someone else. 

He knocked on the door before realising no one was there. Faba fished a notebook from his pocket with one hand and gently let his Pokemon down to stand on the floor. 

With a pen he always kept with his notebook he wrote something down. It was sloppy and ugly but it got the point across.

He shoved the note under the door and picked up his buddy again. He kissed it’s head and walked towards the exit. 

The note wouldn’t be found until next morning, long after Faba had headed home.

“I quit. - F.”


End file.
